


afterparty

by 002peach



Series: tdp modern day AU [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Underage Drinking, lot of Teen Feelings, takes a lot of cues from s3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21712390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/002peach/pseuds/002peach
Summary: In which an unexpected incident forces Callum to confront certain changes in his life, and there’s also a party. Modern day AU.(technically a sequel, but can be read as a stand-alone story as well.)
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: tdp modern day AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564945
Comments: 22
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! as the summary says, this is technically a sequel to my previous fic of mine, but this can more or less be read entirely as it’s own thing as well. some quick notes to clarify possible confusion over tiny references:
> 
> \- callum and rayla are both in high school, and they previously went to a party as a favor to soren. it was weird and viren was there but it’s fine because they became ~best friends~  
> \- runaan and ethari both work as nurses in this au, so any mentions of a hospital is in reference to that 
> 
> I’m sorry for such a long beginning note lmao but that’s it! thank you for reading!

The Friday after finals was a flurry. For all their differences in personality, hobbies, and temperament, the two things that truly untied Harrow and Viren in their long-standing friendship was an unwavering dedication to their families, and their passion for (and insistence on) staged family photos. 

To them, the more the merrier, really, so Callum was taking more photos over that weekend than he ever had in his entire life, posing “candidly” with Ezran, Claudia, and Soren for Soren’s official high school graduation photos. They took photos in the park, they took at Viren’s house, they took photos at Harrow’s house- Hell, they took photos at  _ Rayla’s  _ place, at Ethari’s enthusiastic insistence. 

Rayla had managed to smoothly talk her way out of taking photos with the slight cough she was exaggerating, so she simply sat on the couch, shit-eating grin directed right at Callum as he pretended his cheeks weren’t on the verge of shattering from how much he had to smile. Viren and Harrow coordinated vantage points for the optimal amount of angles needed, which Ethari also enthusiastically joined in, roping in Runaan not to long after. Rayla could barely suppress the gleeful smirk on her face as the men began to rig the camera off a makeshift post on the ceiling, and the utterly despondent look on Callum’s face.

After the two day long photo shoot, there was the small dinner held at Soren and Claudia’s house on Sunday, one day before the graduation, between their dads, friends, and Amaya, Gren, and Corvus. That was considerably more enjoyable than the photo shoot, even if Callum and Viren occasionally still made uncomfortable eye-contact almost five months after their encounter at Soren’s club party. Runaan and Ethari were uncomfortable able to come, but Rayla was there, giving Callum a small, knowing nudge every time it happened, prompting a small laugh.

It was peaceful, overall, spending time with everyone on a warm June night, the last days of May weather and June gloom slipping away. He drove Rayla home that night and the slight balminess in the air and the stillness of her neighborhood that night seemed to signal a change in  _ something _ , right alongside the seasons. He told her this and she scrunched her face up, calling him too sentimental, but for a moment, she seemed to ponder this as well.

—

Up on stage, Principal Harrow gave the signal, and the graduation caps finally flew in the air, confetti and balloons joining. A round of applause, and then the chaotic shuffling of families making their way out of the bleachers and onto the football field. With what could only be described as a sixth sense, Claudia zeroed in on her brother immediately, leaving the rest far behind as she tackled straight into him.

“ _ SORBEAR _ ! You did it! I knew you could!!” She sobbed, very loudly.

“Aw Claudia...fuck, I said I wouldn’t  _ cry _ .” Soren’s voice cracked at the end as he wholeheartedly bear-hugged his sister, the two of them joyfully wailing in the middle of the field. Rayla glanced over at Callum, concerned, but Callum simply shrugged. He might have shed a tear or two in the past for Ezran’s grade school graduation, so he couldn’t really judge. 

Speaking of which, Ezran walked over to Soren to congratulate him and was promptly swallowed up into the sandwich. He seemed happy, but Callum was a little concerned he might soon stop breathing, so it was officially time to break up the love-fest. 

“Congrats, you dumb lump.” Rayla said, holding out a small bouquet gift purchased outside. Soren took it and motioned towards her, waiting for the green light. Rayla rolled her eyes and held her arms out stiffly, letting Soren swoop in for another crushing bear-hug. Callum barely had time to laugh at the scene before he himself was pulled in, his spine almost snapping him half.

“Man, okay, okay,” Soren said when he was done, wiping the tears from his eyes. “ _ Party _ at my house, this Friday. Pretty much everyone from my graduating class is gonna be there, and so are you guys.” He pointed at them. He then pointed at Ezran only. “We will be having an all-ages party tonight at your place.” Ezran grinned brightly.

“Your dad’s gonna be chaperoning there too?” Rayla asked skeptically, and Callum couldn’t help the nervous glance he sent Soren’s way. Soren put a hand up. “Nope, this has been months in the making, I’ve been negotiating this  _ way  _ back when. We get the house to ourselves until 12:30 in the morning. No alcohol.” Rayla raised an eyebrow at this until Soren glanced around them, and discreetly finger-quoted. Callum glanced at Rayla this time, mostly concerned, mildly exasperated, but she only responded with her bright smile. 

“Alright, we should probably find dad now, I’m sure he’s gonna want to take more photos before it gets too dark.” Claudia said. Callum groaned, but his whining went unnoticed as Soren and Claudia went off excitedly, Ezran following suit after them. 

“I thought  _ my  _ dad needed to cool it with the photos this whole time.” Rayla said, laughing freely at Callum’s plight. “We’re going to have to do it all over again next year when Claudia graduates too. Then when you and I graduate…”

“Who says I’m gonna be around when that happens?” Rayla questioned as they slowly started making their way towards where their friends had run off to. Callum looked over at her. “Were you planning on going somewhere…?” He gasped. “Are you moving back to Scotland? The assassins you were running from this whole time finally caught up to you. Can’t say I didn't enjoy some of the time we spent together. I’ll place a rose outside my porch every 31st of July, just for you.” He grasped her shoulder, turning away dramatically, before he had to stop himself from toppling over the grass from how hard she shoved him.

“ _ Haha _ . I’m just saying, you seem pretty sure we’ll still be hangin’ around each other by that time.” She smiled, then paused, thinking. “Come to think of it, our birthday month’s comin’ up soon. What should we do together?”

“Weren’t you just saying we weren’t going to be hanging around each other anymore?” Callum shot back smugly. 

“I think a month and two years can’t really be compared, dummy.” Her response was haughty, but her smile remained, her  _ “ _ hypothetical” clearly just that. Something about it encouraged him to move in closer, just a tiny bit. He lightly bumped her shoulder with his.

“We could plan something with Ezran and everyone else. Unless you wanted to just hang out, the two of us?” He asked. She glanced at him quickly before looking up and then straight ahead, as if she were mulling the question over deeply in her head. The pause that followed was a little longer than he expected. 

“You decide.” Came her answer as they closed in on the others, who had finally met up with the adults. As a result, he didn’t really get a chance to answer- instead, it gave him time to think over everything that  _ didn’t  _ have to do with his answer. Like why she had paused for so long. And why it was giving him pause suddenly. His dad flashed a wide smile and camera, and these questions promptly exited his mind.

—

This night was a little warmer than the last, and even balmier. It was 8:30 p.m., the small party having been going on for a while now and showing no signs of slowing down as Amaya and Gren pulled out Pictionary. Runaan and Ethari had cut the night short for themselves however, graciously excluding themselves as they explained how tired they both were from having worked double shifts not too long ago. They bade everyone good-bye, but Rayla chose to stay behind, knowing Callum would be more than willing to drop her off later. 

But after they had left, Rayla decided to stay out on the porch for a bit. “It’s just a little hot in here, is all.” She said with a smile at the adult’s concerned expressions, but they allowed it. Since then, Callum had been waiting for an excuse to slip outside- the shuffling around for this new game change seemed the perfect opportunity, so he did just that. 

“Having fun out here?” He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. She was seated on the small bench outside on the porch, looking very still, but she brightened slightly at his arrival. “Tons of it.”

“What’s on your mind?” He sat down next to her, and she looked ahead steadily, her gaze far off again. “Not much really...think I’m just tired.”

“Why didn’t you go with your dads then? Not that we don’t want you here or anything, but you shouldn’t force yourself to stay awake for us.” He smiled, but Rayla seemed even more pensive now. His smile dropped a bit. “Are you ok?”

She glanced over at him and away quickly, a long pause falling between them again as she seemed to consider what she would say next. In the distance, the sound of crickets provided a soft backdrop, making him feel as though they were the only two people around for a moment.

She finally turned towards him, her resolve seeming stronger. “Lately I think I’ve just been...feeling. off.” She finished. “In what ways?”

“I really don’t know, honestly. I just feel like I’m gettin’ up on the wrong side of the bed every morning. I’ve been havin’ a nice time these past few days but I just...can’t really shake this feeling.” She wasn’t offering much explanation, but he could see on her face how much revealing this tiny bit was taking out of her, so he thought quickly on his feet. 

“You know,” he started cheerily. “Whenever someone’s feeling down in my family, we do something called ‘Big Feelings Time.’”

“Oh God…”

“No, really! It helps! You say what you’re feeling, and then someone else says they hear you, they understand you, they’re here for you- it feels really good!”

She shot him a withering look. “You’re like those families from Christmas catalogues, or like...coffee commercials or something.” He laughed despite this. 

“Well, I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. I’ll just stay out here with you instead.” 

“Aren’t they playing Pictionary now Inside? You love drawing. And that’s one of the only games you ever win.”

“I’m willing to allow them a chance to win among themselves.” He responded, picking imaginary dirt off his nails smugly. “And it’s okay. I’d rather be here with you anyway.” 

He meant this sincerely because it was true, but it seemed to shock Rayla. Her eyes widened before she quickly turned away, stiffening. His smile dropped slightly again-  _ Was that really that weird? _ He was just being honest- it was no secret that in these past months, they’ve crossed the divide into being best friends. Why would he not want to be with his best friend?

She seemed almost troubled, her fingers fidgeting slightly, and Callum thought that he should perhaps apologize for whatever it was he did to make her uncomfortable before she suddenly spoke again. 

“I just feel like. I’m fucking everything up right now.” She started, first a little too loudly, then too softly. She kept her gaze down at her hands clasped together tightly. She looked like she might have been a little shocked at the words that came out, but it couldn’t beat his own shock.

“What? Rayla, why would you say that?” Callum reached out to pull her hands apart, but she flinched and he quickly backed away. He was at a loss for words- what in the world could have brought all of this about? What exactly could he do to make this better?

Her face seemed to shift between a number of emotions within a breath of a second. “I can’t really explain it, I just…I don’t know how to feel right now. But I just feel like so many things are going wrong and I just know it’s my fault somehow.” Her voice broke slightly at the end, almost imperceptibly. She swallowed, then continued on steadily. “We’re gonna be adults before we know it soon, you know. I feel like everything that’s happening, I should be smart enough to handle,  _ strong  _ enough to handle, but I’m just- I’m so  _ weak _ . I feel like such a  _ child _ \- I  _ am  _ such a child, and I hate it and I have no idea what to-“

“Rayla, I-“

“- I think to myself, why can’t you handle this? Have you always been like this? I thought I could pride myself sometimes maybe on having a good handle on myself, but I don’t know  _ anything- _ “ 

“Rayla-“

She was almost shaking now. “- and God, all I’ve been doing is sittin’ in my room fucking  _ crying _ and it’s so pathetic, I’m so ashamed. I’m so pathetic, I-“

“Rayla,  _ shut up.” _

She immediately stopped and blinked, her eyes shooting up at him, as though she didn’t even realize he was still there anymore. “What?”

“Why are you saying these things about yourself? Rayla, it’s- it’s  _ dumb. _ ” Even Callum himself was a little surprised at what he was saying. He’s definitely never spoken this way to her before, and her utterly stunned face proved that entirely. But there was just something about not only what she was saying, but the  _ way _ she was saying it- he knew it couldn’t go on any longer.

“I’m not trying to make how you’re feeling sound dumb or anything like that but, just. How can you be so hard on yourself right now? If you’re feeling this way, this is the worst thing you could do to yourself right now.” 

He didn’t realize at first that his hand had reached out to brush a lock of loose hair behind her ear. He belatedly noted a warmth in her cheeks that made him linger. 

“And you know none of those things are true. You’re not weak, you’re not dumb and you’re not pathetic, you’re the strongest person I know! You could never be any of those things. You’re kind, and you’re smart, and you’re beautiful.” He knew his basically saying  _ anything  _ at this point, but it seemed to be working. Rayla, at least, didn’t seem so shocked in the way she was before- it settled into a more dazed surprise. Perhaps without her realizing, she had leaned her cheek into his palm fully, and he shifted to bring it that much closer, cupping it fully.

“You’re the best person I know, Rayla. No matter what, you try your hardest in everything you do. Maybe too hard sometimes, but it doesn’t matter, ‘cause everything you do looks cool and effortless anyway.” He smiled, seeing her eyes soften as the last traces of bitterness faded away. “And you’re ten times funnier than anyone else I know.” She giggled at this, as though breaking through tears that might have fallen. He smiled even brighter. “See? The Big Feelings Time helped, huh?” She giggled even louder at that. 

“I told you! I’m here with you, no matter what.”

Everything stood still at that moment, not even the soft rustling of the summer breeze or the crickets far off breaking through. He thought for a moment that something felt very familiar about all this. Being alone with his best friend like this, staring into her eyes, the long lashes that framed him, the twinkle he knew all too well, her nose, her lips that came closer and closer and-

_ Wait. What. _

Before he could even register what exactly had happened, she pulled back, serene for one moment before her face fell, confused. He short-circuited, in every sense of the word.

“I…wasn’t expecting that, exactly.”

She stared at him, her expression unreadable. “You were saying all those things...so I thought…”

_ Okay wait. Fuck.  _ “I wasn’t- I wasn’t saying them to like! Get you to. You know.” He said, touching his lips. The lips she  _ kissed.  _ She  _ kissed  _ him.  _ Holy shit. _

She first stared at him as if he had just grown a third head for a moment. She then gasped and shot up as though she had grasped something burning. She turned away from him completely, almost shaking. He couldn’t venture what she possibly be thinking before she finally spoke, something deathly in her voice.

“We will  _ never _ speak of his again. Do you understand?”

“Uh, y-yeah, of course.” Callum responded, fully in fight-or-flight mode at this point.

She suddenly turned around towards him roughly, her face coming close to his in a way that was much less gentle than before. “I’m  _ serious _ , I’ll hunt you  _ down _ Callum, I swear on my  _ life  _ I’ll-“

“D-Don’t even worry! I would never, like-  _ no! _ ” He finished with a nervous chuckle, hands up in defense. In that split-second, he saw her fierce expression crumple completely. She then brought it back, a little more subdued this time, and she steadily walked passed him towards the front door. 

“We’ll go back inside, and never speak of this again. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, got it.” Callum said hastily, eyes still wide from what just happened. With that, without looking back, Rayla opened the door and went back inside. He followed, but only after a swift, well-deserved palm to the face.

—-

The rest of the party went off without a hitch, more or less. Nobody seemed too concerned with how long Callum and Rayla had spent outside, except for maybe Amaya, who had glanced between the two of them when they had walked back in but said nothing, and Ezran, who Callum thought he might have saw glance meaningfully at him or Rayla throughout the rest of the night. Rayla, for her part, rejoined the party quite easily, her expression steady and placid. Callum had no idea what he looked like at the moment. He tried not to look over at Rayla too much in fear of making his expression do something funny, so he subtly stole Claudia as his game partner, switching with Ezran, who Rayla seemed grateful to chat with. 

At 10:30 p.m. came the first round of yawns from a long day, and everyone decided to pack it all in for the night. Soren gave Callum and Ezran one last crushing bear-hug, and a tight handshake and hug with all of the adults before he started to head out with Claudia, as Viren had gone home a little earlier (“He’s ancient.” Claudia had whispered to Ezran, tugging at her eye bags.) Before they walked out, Rayla stopped them.

“Could you give me a ride home, Soren?” She asked. Soren glanced up over at Callum behind her. Callum hoped he didn’t look too surprised at her sudden request, but Soren’s expression told him that might have been the case. “You don’t wanna go with Callum?” Soren asked.

“Nah, he’s tired. I’ll let him rest tonight.” Rayla shrugged, completely casual. Soren glanced back up at Callum for a second again, unsure, before Rayla spoke again. “Besides, I wanted to talk to you about the football team at the campus you applied.” 

“Oh,  _ dude. _ ” Soren responded, apprehension wiped clean away. “Wait ‘til you hear about- oh.” Soren looked up at Callum once again. “I’ll get her home safe dude. ‘Night!” Claudia waved happily behind them.

Callum waved back, suddenly very self-conscious at Soren’s need to assure him of that.  _ Stop being dumb. She’s your best friend. Everyone knows it. _

He thought for a moment that Rayla had maybe looked back at him, but he might have missed it, as she promptly walked out the front door with Soren and Claudia, quietly shutting it. The adults were busy clearing up all of the food and games from the tables, Ezran cleaned his area and bade then all good night, and Callum was left standing alone in the living room, utterly confused, and strangely empty. 

—-

The emptiness and confusion remained the rest of that night as he layed in bed, finding it hard to sleep. He checked his phone again, the bright screen hurting his dropping eyes. 1:25 a.m., and no new messages, the last one being from Claudia at 11:30 p.m., letting him know everyone had gotten home safely. 

He shouldn’t really be expecting any new messages anyway. Rayla  _ did  _ say she kind of tired, she probably went straight to bed the minute she got home. She also said they were literally never going to talk about what had happened earlier again, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise that she was indeed sticking to that. She was a girl of her word.

But to ignore what happened between them- the kiss, he resolved to say to himself, cringing only slightly.  _ They kissed _ . Or more rather, she kissed him. He sat there like an  _ idiot _ and just let it happen. 

Was “let it happen” the right words? That implied that he might have preferred it to stop, or not happen at all. And, well, maybe he  _ did _ , but not out of  _ disgust  _ or anything like that. He just didn’t want to embarrass her! Or worse, make her think all of the true affirmations he was giving her were all part of his diabolical master plan to make out with her on his step-dad’s porch. And yet, through doing nothing, he managed to accomplish exactly. He groaned, hands over his eyes as he roughly turned to his side. He shut his phone off and placed it back on his nightstand, deciding that he would get at least a little bit of sleep. 

Tomorrow was Tuesday, and he was going to hang out with Ezran and Rayla, just like he did almost every other day. It was going to be the beginning of Summer break, so there’d be no pressure from homework, tests, waking up at ungodly hours- it was going to be  _ fun, darn it _ . If Rayla could be completely normal about this, and if she truly wanted him to never speak of it again, then that’s just he would do. Never speak of it again. Go back to being completely normal, as always. Yeah.  _ Yeah _ . It will be fine. 

Lost in these thoughts, he almost brought his fingers back to his lips, where they had been so warm for just a moment a couple of hours ago. He realized this and swung his hand back so fast, he hit his headboard  _ hard _ , and spent the next twenty minutes nursing his wounded hand. It’ll all still be fine anyway.

—-

It was not fine.

Not entirely anyway. Ethari had dropped Rayla off at Callum’s house on his way to the hospital, and she entered his home looking pretty much the same as always. Maybe a little less bright, but cheery nonetheless as she said hello to Harrow and sat down next to Ezran on the couch for TV. Callum stood by the doorway stiffly for a moment before Ezran called out after him, beckoning him to join them for whatever cartoon Ezran had put on. Callum walked over and that began the first instance of Overthinking Every He Knew up to that point. 

He hadn’t realized at that point that the three of them had a pretty set seating arrangement on the couch. Callum was generally the one to sit right in the middle next to Ezran and Rayla. It was a very sensible set up, really- when they watched cartoons, Ezran could poke at Callum about story beats and episodes he had missed, or simply rest his head against his brother’s arm, relaxed. When they watched scary movies, Ezran could use that arm to hide (he always refused to actually  _ leave _ ) while Rayla could lean over and give her official commentary about how dumb the movie was the entire time (while also never actually leaving.) It was a great set-up, completely comfortable and natural. 

There was no reason why he had to pause before he sat, this arrangement suddenly so glaringly obvious and troubling to him. “Callum, I can’t see.” Ezran complained lightly, his head turning to the side. Callum glanced over, and for the first time since the  _ incident _ from last night, Rayla looked up, right back at him. Her face was mildly curious, mostly blank. No smile, but no discernible anger either. He sat down, as smoothly as he could.

He looked stiffly ahead of him before he realized Rayla’s gaze on him. “Go make popcorn, Callum.” she said. He turned towards her in surprise, and found her face still completely neutral, looking right at him. He paused. “You...couldn’t have asked that when I was standing up?”

“No.” She responded. Then she smiled, very lightly, but a smile nonetheless. It took him a moment to register that before he found himself smiling, a nervous laugh slipping out. 

“Could you get a glass of water too, please? Sorry.” Ezran grinned. In mock-exasperation, Callum got up and headed towards the kitchen. He didn’t know whether to give himself another deserved face-palm or give himself a high-five. He acted awkward and weird-  _ so, so weird _ . But as Rayla had told him many times before, he just  _ was  _ weird. So maybe this was just him acting normal. And Rayla had looked at him again-  _ and  _ smiled. She truly was a girl of her word. So again, if she could do it, then he could do. He finally resolved to put it all in the back of his mind, for good. 

If he really thought about it, the incident, it wasn’t even really  _ that  _ big a deal, right? It was a heat of the moment deal, it had to be. They were very close, Rayla was very emotional, it was just a weird place, weird time- yeah, yeah. He watched the popcorn bag turn in the microwave, slowly expanding. It had to have been that. Because if it weren’t that, then that would mean- that would mean that it was...a kiss. A  _ real _ kiss, not one out of gratefulness or misplaced and ill-timed excitement or emotion, but of...feelings and stuff. And he had  _ feelings _ \- feelings of friendship! Best friendship! They were best friends, and that’s all they ever were, are, and will be. The idea that Rayla could feel any other way, the idea that he could even  _ think  _ that Rayla would ever even  _ consider- _

“Are you done?” Came her voice behind, and he jumped as the bag popped loudly and microwave  _ dinged!  _ bringing him back to reality. He turned swiftly to see her standing there, looking thoroughly confused. 

“Y-yeah, yeah, just, finished now.” He said hastily, pulling the bag out from the microwave too quickly- he shot his hand back, a tingling from the slight burn on his fingers. Rayla scoffed. “Dummy.” She then grabbed his hand, and he froze. 

“You don’t wanna go to the sink or anything? I mean, if you’re fine with burnt fingers…”

“I...am not.” He responded weakly, as she guided him over to the sink, running cool water over his hand. He swallowed. “Thanks.” She scoffed lightly again. “Just seemed like you were gonna stand around doing nothing if nobody stepped in.” She let go of his hand at this point, and the warmth left behind competed with the tingling from his small burn. He couldn’t help but look over at her, no doubt surprised. She met his gaze, her face neutral again. “What?”

The sound of the water running crashing like a tsunami in his ear and he just stared at her for a moment-  _ for what?  _ “Nothing,” he heard himself say. “Just- Sorry. Uh, for.” He turned off the faucet and held up his hand. Her face didn’t even move a muscle. “You don’t have to be sorry for that.” 

He wondered what exactly he should be saying next, but Ezran wandered in the kitchen at that moment. “Are you guys okay?” He asked, looking between them.

“He’s fine.” Rayla said, pointing over at Callum. “Just sustained a life-threatening injury is all.” 

Callum quickly held up his hand, and Ezran giggled, grabbing the now cooler bag of popcorn and a large bowl. They all went to sit back down on the couch and the rest of the day went as any other day could- cartoons, a random movie on TV, more cartoons, Mario Kart- until Runaan’s shift was over at 5:00 p.m., and he picked Rayla up. She waved goodbye at the two of them and Harrow, her smile looking a little brighter than she had walked in that morning. 

Callum was glad, but in his room alone that night, he found it hard to sleep again. He thought, he really was like a baby- always bumping around helpless, needing someone else to pick up his slack for him. She grabbed his hand and helped him like it was nothing, and it probably honestly wasn’t- she came from a family of nurses, after all. She was probably, in some way, used to taking care of people who couldn’t really take care of themselves. Namely, people like him.

He turned over on his side, his cheek resting heavily on his pillow, staring at this hand.  _ You’re so dumb _ . There was no way that could have meant anything more. So it was better to just forget it. Why even be so bothered by that idea? All he had was feelings of love and friendship- he wouldn’t trade anything in the world for being her friend, so why let a tiny mistake ruin all of that? 

There was another warm breeze coming in through his window, and he lifted his head a bit to see the tiny smattering of stars that peeked through all of the street lights. He remembered when he told Rayla that days and nights like these always felt like they were signaling change, and whereas before the thought seemed exciting and new, it now only left him a heavy dread in his stomach he couldn’t shake off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this was originally supposed to be a pretty cut and dry one-shot but I eventually hit a certain number of words where I was like hmm...ok maybe not then. I am thinking most likely at this point three chapters, but we’ll see!
> 
> thank you all for reading again! if anyone had read my last fic and thought “this could use more shipping” this is basically entirely that now so have fun lmao


	2. Chapter 2

After that night, Callum pondered about change. It happened all the time, really- nothing can ever truly stay the same, forever.  _ You’re like a regular ol’ Socrates, aren’t you, Callum?  _ But he wasn’t  _ wrong _ \- everything was in a constant state of flux, always shifting with the times. Even when it slipped right by underneath him, it was there. The imperceptible changes that would build and build until they were right in front of him, unavoidable. And he had liked to think of himself as someone who can handle, or even welcome change, and he honestly still felt that way. He was a bit of a homebody, sure, but he could handle a lot of things thrown his way- he’s had to for a big majority of his life. New cities, new homes, new  _ dad,  _ new  _ family _ . 

It had been many years since that all happened, but it all settled into something peaceful, wonderful. The changes in his life weren’t the giant upheavals that took him far away from everything he knew, physically  _ and  _ emotionally, but the tiny little shifts he couldn’t catch at first.

Ezran went from crying in diapers to just reaching a little under his shoulders (the moment this hit him was at Ezran’s grade school graduation, the graduation and moment that Callum may have, allegedly, teared up a little at.) His step-dad and his aunt and Gren and Corvus all got older as well, and calmer, settling into a routine of game nights or the occasional bar hop if they were really feeling wild. Soren and Claudia grew up right beside them, Soren’s athleticism mounting, Claudia’s interest in everything biology and chemistry sharpening- even Viren, in his growing age, picked up some...hobbies apparently. It all at once seemed to be happening throughout his entire life and in the blink of an eye.

Rayla was changing too. Over the past almost six months, she became much more open with everything, a far cry from their awkward, stand-offish beginnings. He supposed that’s what chasing after a drunk person all night and stumbling upon secret occult rooms will do to a friendship, but it seemed so natural, like all of the other things he had missed. 

His thoughts were coming back to this idea more and more as time passed, and he wondered- when exactly did things change between them? He knew that at one point in time, had Rayla been as personal with him as she was that night, she would not have felt compelled to kiss him. So what was it then?

-

He could remember clearly the day she called him her best friend. Ezran and them had lost track of time playing video games at their house, and Callum got Rayla back home a little later than expected. Runaan was not angry, but very stern, and  _ very  _ disappointed. 

Runaan was truly a nice man, never mean or rude to Callum, always willing to engage him in small talk. There was just something very, very intimidating about his silence and stare- he could see bits of it in Rayla when she got annoyed. 

Runaan questioned if perhaps the two of them had gotten into some sort of business that night they should not have, and Rayla spoke against him, defiantly. He had never seen Rayla speak that way to her father before, but she grabbed Callum’s arm tightly and told him, “We would never do anything like that, they’re not like that at all. Ezran and Callum are my friends. Callum’s my  _ best _ friend.”

He thought for a moment that the time the two of them pretended to be over eighteen at an adult's only house party might be a good rebuttal to that, but he only dwelled on that for a split second before he immediately brightened at what she just said. Best friends. They were  _ best friends _ . He must have had the dopiest grin on his face at this point, because Runaan softened considerably.

“I know.” He said quietly after a beat. “I do not mean to imply otherwise.” 

A couple of days later, when Callum picked Rayla up again in his car, the moment she stepped in he blurted out “You’re my best friend too!” and she sat there shocked, until she burst into laughter, giving him a classic hard shove. 

“I know, you doof.” And many days were very good after that. 

-

He sat in his room at his desk reminiscing, head on his hand over his open sketchbook, but he frowned. Does that all really translate into  _ kissing _ , though? I mean, he could consider Claudia and Soren some of his best friends too, and he had  _ wanted  _ to at least hold Claudia’s hand at one point in his when he was nine years old. (He might have once thought about doing that with Soren too, but then Soren opened his mouth and that was over before it even began.)

He had to think harder. There could have been many things that built up between them, exchanges, stories, secrets, that could have piled together under his nose to lead up to this. But there had to have been at least _one_ singular instance where there could have been a shift, even the tiniest one, that could have slipped inside their minds and planted to tiniest seed of what could grow into something...more? No, no, _not more_ \- just _different_. Something that made _them_ kiss, and no one else. But in order to do that, he’d have to actually revisit the incident in his mind, so he’d have to tread very lightly. 

He pointedly ignored the warmth, the closeness, the soft-  _ No! _ He focused instead on another factor to all this- the  _ familiarity _ . He had thought to himself at that moment that something about the situation felt like they had maybe been around that corner before, but  _ when _ ? How could this be familiar and completely out of the blue, all at once? He racked his brain and surely enough, a memory came to the surface. Something he hadn’t even thought to remember, so he had to chase after it slightly, letting it form and fold out in front of him.

-

It was maybe a month and a half ago, when right before the promise of warmer weather came the cold weather’s last vengeful grip. They were taking a walk around the neighborhood around 6:00 p.m., and Callum could see his breath every time he spoke. He was defending himself against Rayla making fun of his thick, puffy jacket that made it hard for him to fully place his arms at his side- and yet here he was, warm as he ever could be while Rayla shivered next to him in her thin coat. He lamented her untimely death of hypothermia, and dodged the shove he knew was coming. 

She laughed, then shivered again. He realized that his scarf was serving no real purpose for him with his trusty jacket on, so without thinking about it, he took his scarf on and handed it over to her. “I don’t want your weird smelling scarf.” She said, but he laughed and took it upon himself to put it around her neck for her.

He really hadn’t thought much of it at all. She was cold, and he had something that could help her, and that was it. She watched as his hands wrapped and secured the scarf around her, and in the moment he decided to look up at her to ask how it felt, she looked up at him and their eyes met. And they stayed like that. 

He had no idea why they had stayed so still, or why he didn’t move to stop it. He had noted for a moment that their breath mingled together like this. And as quickly as it seemed to have happened, she turned away, and it was over. 

-

He realized, he never got that scarf back. And then he turned completely red.

“Whatcha drawing?” Callum flinched. Ezran popped up beside him, Bait in hand, peering over his sketchbook curiously before Callum could cover it up.

“Hey, you drew Rayla! She looks so pretty!” 

“NO SHE DOESN’T.” Callum abruptly slammed the sketchbook shut. Ezran’s face dropped, almost saddened.

“You don’t think Rayla’s pretty?” He asked, offended in her honor.

“O...of course I think she’s pretty…” came his weak response. He remembered then that he called her  _ beautiful. Shit. _

“Then you just really captured her likeness.” Ezran smiled, pulling Bait closer to him. Something about Ezran’s smile unnerved him. It was the same, tranquil one as always, but he knew there was something behind it, there  _ had  _ to be.

“Something on your mind?” Ezran all but confirmed. Callum turned away quickly, shoving his sketchbook underneath his desk. “No, nothing, nope. Just...sitting here.” 

“Uh huh.”

“Just sitting here...drawing. Everyone. I started with Rayla just ‘cause…”

“‘Cause she’s the one you like the most now, right?” Ezran helpfully finished. 

“What’s  _ that  _ supposed to mean?” Callum said defensively. Ezran shrugged. “You’ve already drawn me and Claudia a ton before. You’re drawn Soren once or twice, dad a couple times, mom, Aunt Amaya...but Rayla’s your best friend, and I don’t think you’ve drawn her that much before. Or at least as far as I’ve known. And you said yourself she’s pretty, so.” 

Callum’s mind raced.  _ Had  _ he drawn Rayla before? He took a mental note of all his sketched and realized he  _ has- _ several times. Just small sketches though! 

“You’re my best friend too, you know.” Callum said. “Yeah, but I’m not pretty.” Ezran said, pouting. Bait nudged him in reassurance with his paw. 

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Is it not true? You just said it. And besides,” Ezran raised a finger, as though he were about to launch into a lecture. “I remember you told me once were just as much about what’s  _ inside  _ someone as it is out. So if she’s pretty inside too, it only makes sense to draw her that way. You’re just doing your job.” Callum sighed, defeated. That did sound like something corny enough for him to say. 

Ezran was now fully preoccupied with playing around with Bait’s paws, as if he hadn’t just been throwing several wrenches into everything Callum knew about himself. The nonchalance of everything he was saying about how badly it was affecting him- it was all at once making him confront a truth he might have been ignoring for a while. A change in  _ something  _ that had been building up, so slowly but so surely, until it finally caught up to him, and he couldn’t run back to how it was before. 

It wasn’t  _ just  _ that she was pretty, far from it. It was that she was everything he said she was that night. He meant every word of it, and perhaps it knowing all of that that night, and the night before, and the night they stood frozen together, and everything in between that brought it all to this moment. 

It was, unsurprisingly, another sleepless night, and at this point, checking the ungodly hour it was on his phone again, he truly getting tired of it.

“Okay. I like her.” He said, flat on his back in his bed, out loud in the dark to no one. Admitting it felt both a little cathartic and very nerve-wracking, but he was at least able to get a little sleep after that.

—

He thought over the next couple of days that under any other circumstances, this would actually be a pretty great realization. 

It felt nice to add context to all the tiny things he never paid much attention to before that were now constantly racing through his mind. All of the lingering glances where he had noticed tiny features of her face he’d keep to himself to ponder on later, the excuses he made to be closer to her at almost every moment, all the times where he felt that maybe there was something more he should say, but didn’t know  _ what _ \- it all made perfect sense now, from the ground up. 

Of course he liked his best friend. They spent a ton of time together, she got along extremely well with his family and his beloved little brother,  _ they _ got along great, she was smart and funny and beautiful- it was a good feeling, and he should be happy over it. He  _ was _ , a tiny bit. 

But he also  _ really really fucked up _ . Like above and beyond. How stupid he was, how stupid he made her  _ feel _ , for her to pour her heart out about something that had been troubling her so deeply, for her to outright kiss him and have him  _ reject her _ \- he almost slammed his head against his desk,  _ what in the world were you thinking? _

He was thinking he really didn’t want her to think he was trying to get anything out of her. He just wanted to comfort her, and he thought, maybe she did it out of...pity? Gratefulness?  _ Oh look how nice he is, guess I should do something for him.  _ But Rayla would  _ never  _ do something like that, and he would never  _ want  _ or expect something like that. 

So then why? He had just made one big realization last night, barely, he didn’t think he was ready at all to even broach the idea that she might-

“Claudia’s coming over!” Callum jumped again and immediately turned towards Ezran and Bait right next to him. “Okay, we’ve really got to talk about you doing this.”

“What’s wrong?” Ezran asked, selectively ignoring Callum as usual. He paused, wondering if he should tell the truth. In the long run, it really wasn’t  _ that  _ huge a deal, right? The feelings aspect, at least. Plus, he never really liked hiding things from Ezran. 

“Okay, well, I’ve been doing some thinking.” He started. Ezran’s expectant smile remained. “And...you were right. I like Rayla.”

Ezran gasped, clutching Bait tighter. “You like Rayla!?” Then he paused and looked down, confused. “I told you that?”

“Isn’t that what you were  _ trying  _ to do yesterday?” Callum pointed accusatory. Ezran placed a defensive hand over his heart. “I was just asking you what you were drawing!”

“Y-you made me admit she was pretty!”

“Because she  _ is  _ pretty!”

“I  _ know that _ !” Callum flopped his head down on his desk with a  _ thunk _ and a groan. Ezran scooted closer, placing a hand on the top of his head.

“You must have been going through a tough time.”

“Was it that obvious.” Came Callum’s muffled response.

“But this is really good! You should tell her.” Ezran said excitedly. 

“Why would I  _ ever  _ do  _ anything _ like that.” Callum lifted his head up to face his brother.

“Because she’s your friend? And she’s great!” Despite his encouragement, Ezran’s expression fell a bit. “I don’t mean this meanly or anything, Callum, but I feel like this isn’t really like you at all.” 

Callum couldn’t stand to see Ezran so concerned over his behavior. He felt he might have been right, but he was also only privy to half the story. If he couldn’t even tell Ezran the whole truth, who else could he?

“Well…” he started, looking down at his nervous fingers. “It might not be, but...there are certain.  _ Circumstances _ that are affecting the current situation.” Ezran’s head tilted to the side a bit as Bait huffed impatiently. Callum continued on, looking back down again and missing Ezran’s head turning towards the door instead in alert.

_ Just spit it out _ . “Last time we all hung out, Rayla and I talked outside and she- she  _ kissed _ me and I didn’t kiss her back.”

“Callum-“

“you  _ WHAT. _ ”

His head shot towards his door where Claudia was standing, looking like she was about two second away from leaping across and grabbing him in a chokehold. His pitiful life briefly flashed before his eyes before Ezran jumped between the two of them, arms out as a barrier. Bait scampered to the corner of the room in fear.

“ _ YOU. _ ” Claudia directly pointed at Callum, a stake in his heart. 

“ _ It was a mistake! _ I promise!” Callum defended, but even Ezran looked back at him, disappointed. “If you like her, why would you do that?” He asked, and Claudia’s face immediately returned to it’s usual wide-eyed countenance.

“Wait, you actually  _ like  _ Rayla? Oh my god,  _ Callum _ !” She swung her arms around him in a hug just barely less crushing than the chokehold. “That’s so cute! I’m so happy for you!” Her expression just as quickly then morphed back to righteous anger. “ _ If you like her, why would you do that!?! _ ” Her grip got harder and Ezran broke them apart, Callum finally catching his breath. 

“Okay, well, maybe this is fixable.” Ezran suggested, cautiously optimistic. “How long ago did this happen?” 

Callum stiffened, then shrunk in his seat. “At this point...maybe about a week ago.”

“ _ A week ago _ .”

He shrunk down even further. Claudia opened her mouth, flabbergasted. “Callum...don’t you have like,  _ any  _ experience with things like this? With  _ anyone _ ?”

His head shot back up at this. “The only ‘experience’ I’ve ever had was with  _ you  _ for like, two minutes in the fifth grade.”

“UGH CALLUM,” Claudia exclaimed, her hand to her forehead. “I’m  _ horrible  _ experience! I don’t even really  _ like  _ boys!”

“Yeah, I caught on soon enough.” He deadpanned. “Alright, well...this is still salvageable.” Ezran said thoughtfully. He placed a supportive hand on Callum’s shoulder. “What you did was really dumb.” He informed him.

“Well aware of that.”

“But Rayla’s your best friend, and she knows what you’re like.” That stung only just a little. “If you just apologize and tell her how you really feel, I don’t think she’ll be  _ mad _ at least.” Ezran reasoned.  _ That would be a very good outcome to this scenario _ , but there was still an extra twist to the situation. 

“Well, the thing is that she’s not even mad. She just said to forget about it.” 

Claudia frowned at this. “No one ever really means it when they say that, though.” She said, arms crossed. Well,  _ Rayla  _ sure seemed to mean it from how composed she was days after it. They had even been texting semi-regularly still. It was like nothing happened, with the exception of Callum and his  _ dumb _ realizations. He sighed.

“Well...I guess it doesn't hurt to try anyway.” He said tentatively. Ezran and Claudia clasped their hands together excitedly. “Exactly! When are you seeing her next?” Ezran asked. 

“Tomorrow, I guess? For Soren’s graduation party.”

“Hmm, might be a little too busy for love confessions.” Claudia said, and Callum hated the way his face heated up at that. 

“I’m sure we can work something out, though. I’ve got my own personal mission to deal with too, tomorrow.” She said, cracking her knuckles. Callum and Ezran’s eyebrows raised in unison. “Soren’s inviting his friend on the football team, who’s inviting his brother, who’s inviting  _ his  _ friend who’s bringing his cousin, who’s also the book keeper for Soren’s team.” She smiled. “I’m going to talk to her, whether Soren likes it or not.” Her smile brightened. Callum’s eyebrows raised even further.

“Well, I wish you two the best of luck then.” Ezran said assuredly, patting Callum’s shoulder one last time before we wandered out of room to return to his cartoons, blissfully ignorant towards matters of the heart. Claudia sent her smile towards Callum. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” 

He wished he could have her confidence about this, but he thought to himself after,  _ maybe I can _ ? At least to soothe things over- he didn’t know Rayla’s side of things, but he would do anything to solve whatever stood in the way of their friendship. He blushed again at that, those words carrying a deeper, much more embarrassing meaning, but it was the truth (the embarrassing, corny, but still, maybe a little nice, truth).

—

When she first entered his car that Friday, he contemplated mentioning it right then and there. It would probably be smarter than at Soren’s house, as Claudia said, where they’d be surrounded by his nosy friends and vague acquaintances. He watched Rayla say goodbye to her parents from her door and steeled himself for what would likely be one of the most mortifying conversations in his life, but when she climbed in, she didn’t seem to be in a mood to talk. Outside the car window Runaan and Ethari lingered in the doorway after her. He thought he might have seen you take the tiniest glimpse back, but she kept her face steady ahead after that. He gripped the steering wheel tighter. 

“...How are you?” She glanced over at him. “Fine.”  _ Okay.  _

“How was your day?” He tried again. “Same as always.” She didn’t even grace him with a glance this time. He decided then that maybe it would be better to try and talk this over when he wasn’t focusing on the road, so they spent the rest of the ride in debately companionable silence until they pulled in front of Soren and Claudia’s house. Neither of them motioned to leave the car immediately, so he took the chance again.

“Is something wrong?” He turned towards her as she remained in the same spot, still in her seat, arms crossed over a small tote bag she had brought with her. 

“I’m fine, Callum.” He opened his mouth again before she stopped him. “Stop trying to get something out of me. Nothing’s the matter, everything’s fine.” He was not at all convinced, but Rayla hastily opened the door, so the moment was officially over. He followed after her, quickly finding Soren near the front door, looking to be in a very good mood.

“ _ Round two _ ! Am I right!” He said, hands up for dual high fives. Soren didn’t seem bothered at all when he received the world’s most unenthusiastic hive fives in return, leading them inside to the kitchen area. “No dad, no boss, and!” He grabbed a beer from a nearby table and handed it to Rayla, who quickly snatched it up. Callum frowned, deeply. 

“Relax dude, there’s almost nothing in that.” Soren assured, but Rayla’s expression darkened. “I’m also  _ not _ a baby or stupid, so I don’t need you treating me like I don’t know how to care of my own damn self.” She grimaced into her drink, like there was something in that she might have regretted, but she quickly took another drink and walked away. Soren looked over at Callum, surprised, but Callum offered nothing in response, simply trailing after her instead. 

Was this...because of what had happened? Was she mad at him now?  _ Had  _ she been mad at him? His frown got even deeper. He didn’t mean to look like he was about to lecture her. He just knew Rayla to be...not the most responsible party-goer. But him fussing over her like she’s helpless was the last thing she wanted from anyone,  _ especially  _ from someone like him, especially  _ from  _ him.  _ What am I supposed to be doing then? _

He looked around the living room, still somewhat empty except for a few people he vaguely recognized from school. This time, at least, they were somewhere that was not a massive weird-party-mansion, and also somewhere he knew pretty well. Rayla has settled down on the couch, sunken in, disgruntled with her beer. He thought for a moment how to proceed.

“We can leave early if you want.” He said, sliding to the seat next to her.  _ Good, good. No nagging, let her choose.  _

“When did I say I wanted to leave early?”  _ Okay, nevermind.  _ He sputtered. “I- I mean just...you know…” he gestured towards her face and he had to fight the impulse to whack his own with his hand. She looked extremely unimpressed, but then her face softened slightly. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being…”

“Hey! You guys go to Katolis High too, right?” A small group approached them, wearing matching jerseys that Callum had seen Soren in before. Rayla rolled her eyes, so Callum figured he’d be the one carrying most of the conversation that was about to take place. 

“Uh, yeah we do!” A tall, handsome guy with slick black hair turned towards Callum at this. “So you’re one of Soren’s friends?”

“Yeah! Are you?” He asked politely.

“No.”

“Oh.” Callum glanced towards Rayla, whose expression had nothing for him in response. “I was on the football team with him.” The guy explained.

“Oh okay, that’s cool!”

“It’s really not.”

Callum blinked. “If..you say so.” Another guy next to Callum’s new conversation partner nudged his side. “Yeah, we basically had to force Kasef out for this. He’s one of  _ those  _ guys, you know- always staying home, never going outside for shit.”

“Uh huh.” Callum nodded, completely understanding and mildly sympathizing. Kasef seemed completely undeterred, red cup in hand continuing to stare down at Callum, completely blank-faced. Callum suddenly felt acutely aware of his surroundings as he looked around, searching for a way out this riveting dialogue when he heard Soren holler near the front.

“ _ Dudes _ , the party is officially fucking here.” He announced as more guys in jerseys walked with, unsurprisingly, even more beer and bottles. Claudia walked in behind them, scanning the area. She threw a quick smile and wave at Callum before she continued what he figured was the beginning of her, er,  _ mission _ .

The room immediately got much louder and much more crowded with their arrival, the new guests unceremoniously plopping down onto the couch next to Callum and Rayla, pushing them closer together. Generally not a problem, except that Callum’s brain decided this was the right moment to remember he now had a big fat crush on his best friend, so his face promptly heated up. Rayla, for her part, just continued to look mildly annoyed. Soren turned the lights down slightly, put on a playlist and as he promised, the party officially started. 

The TV was on with a football game on in the midst of loud laughter and jeering, and Callum kept his eyes plastered on screen, not understanding even a little bit of what was happening, but welcoming any distraction. Rayla, presses up against his shoulder, glanced over at him, skeptical. “Since when did you watch football...or any sport for that matter.”

“It’s good to expand your interests.” He replied, eyes wide and focused away from her. A hand on his shoulder, however, broke his concentration as he looked up behind him, his new “friend” standing over him.

“The guys want you both to come play a game with them.”

“Uh, okay. What game?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.”

“Right.” With that, he reluctantly stood up, Rayla following suit, still with a look of dull annoyance. Her beer was done at this point, and she reached over on their way over to grab another. 

“Glad you could make it.” A guy, presumably one of Soren’s other teammates said, sitting on the floor with his arms crossed. “The game tonight’s ten minutes in heaven.” 

Claudia guffawed loudly across from him. “Are you guys still in the seventh grade or what?!” She cackled. She then grabbed Callum’s arm and pulled him closer. “ _ I’m rigging it. _ ” She whispered conspiratorially. “The game?” He whispered back. 

“Yup.” She pointed discreetly across her, next to the guy who had requested them to join- a tall girl with short hair, blue tips laughing with another probable teammate. “That’s her. I’m rigging this game for her.” Callum’s eyebrows shot up at this new development, but Claudia scoffed. “Not to do anything  _ weird  _ or anything! I really just want to talk to her. It’s  _ so  _ impossible to talk to  _ anyone  _ here with how  _ loud _ these guys are. I don’t even know how we’re achieving this now.” She said, her cheek pressed right up against his. 

“Yeah, no idea. How exactly are you planning on doing this?” She pointed her thumb behind her. “Paid off the only guy I can trust here.” She pointed at Kasef in the corner, red cup in hand, stone-faced as ever. Callum debated telling her that Kasef didn’t even know what they were apparently playing, but decided not to let her hopes down. 

“Why would I ever agree to play this.” Rayla said, but the two of them remained seated there anyway, watching in vague horror. There really was something so  _ juvenile  _ about the whole thing- not to mention kind of creepy. Though maybe not as creepy as Kasef’s eyes boring into Callum from the corner. Callum ventured a tiny wave of acknowledgement, which Kasef did not respond to, even a little bit.

One couple had gone in the closet, and burst out two minutes later in some sort of argument, which seemed just fine to the others who whooped and cheered anyway. Now that they were out however, this was the right moment to slip away, back to the safety of the couch. 

“You two.” Came Kasef’s clear voice cutting through the crowd. Callum froze, and slowly turned his head back. Sure enough, Kasef was pointing a steady finger at him and Rayla, who, for the first time tonight, had an expression on her face other than unimpressed.

“ _ Yeeeeah! _ ” Came the unanimous cheers as they grabbed pulled the two towards the closer. Callum looked around desperately- no Soren in sight, and despite Claudia’s efforts to stop them, she was unable to prevent the group from basically shoving the two in the closet, slamming it shut, and barricading them in there with the  _ thud  _ of an old nightstand they were using. 

Callum stared at the shut closet door, wide-eyed, before he turned towards Rayla, mirroring his expression perfectly.  _ Well fuck _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (just to reassure you all, they’re still in high school and this fic is rated T so nothing weird or inappropriate is coming i promise lol) (if that actually disappoints you instead...sorry i guess djjdjdjd)
> 
> so this is completely beyond random but i wanna discuss cussing hc’s real quick lol:
> 
> \- i don’t actually picture callum cursing much at all, i feel as though harrow would discourage him and ezran from doing so. i feel like in general the worst they say is something like “damn” but whereas ezran doesn’t cuss at all, callum will let more slip out when he’s stressed (like throughout this fic lol)
> 
> \- we all know rayla technically kinda canonically curses so i figure she likely does it the most out of the non-adult cast. not every sentence but like...every other sentence 
> 
> \- i picture claudia and soren cursing a normal amount, less than rayla but more than callum. I picture claudia cursing more out of anger while soren uses them more as ~sentence enhancers~
> 
> thank u all for your time


	3. Chapter 3

Callum didn’t know  _ what  _ entirely to feel at that moment- nervous, embarrassed beyond all belief, annoyed,  _ angry _ . They shoved him and Rayla in a cramped, dark closet against their will. He found he didn’t care so much that they had done that to him, but to subject Rayla to that when she had been watching from the sides- he looked over at her again. She was propped against the wall away from the door now, throwing back the last of her beer.  _ Right _ . He didn’t even know what to say at that moment. “...Sorry.” He settled upon.

She glanced away, almost looking defeated. “ ‘S not like you did anythin’.” She hiccuped slightly, and Callum couldn’t hide the worried expression on his face. “Are you-“

“ _ No _ , I’m not. Not entirely. Soren’s so stupid, these have way more alcohol than he said.” She put the empty bottle down next to her, pulling her legs up towards her chin. “It hit me when we started leaving and they pulled us back. Couldn’t even stop them. This is so fucking dumb.” Callum sighed in agreement as he settled down next to her. 

They stayed silent for a bit, Callum staring down at his fingers on the floor. A dumb, reckless thought crossed his mind-  _ should I bring it up now? _ He blushed and glanced at the door, remembering Claudia’s words- it  _ was  _ really hard to talk to someone with how loud it was outside. Everything was quite muffled in here. He chanced a look at her. He had expected to her to immediately go on a rampage over this,  _ especially _ now that she had a couple of drinks in her, but to his shock, she didn’t even look entirely angry at all. Her head was propped up on her elbows and knees, staring off into the wall. A similar expression to the one she had in the car before.

“Rayla...are you okay?” He asked softly. She peered over at him, surprisngly hesitant. “I’m...not, exactly.” She sighed, twiddling her fingers. “I’m sorry I’ve been so snippy today. I just didn’t really have that great a day. Past couple of days, really.”

“Is it about what you were telling me before?” He realized in the back of his head this was the first direct mention made about that day, but he put that aside for now. She stiffened slightly at this, and then her shoulders dropped. “Yeah...it is.”

“Did something happen recently? To make you feel this way?” He seemed to hit a wall with her at this point- something in her expression closed off immediately as tightened her knees closer to her, shrinking into herself. Callum’s heart pounded, considering a certain possibility. 

“Is it...does any part of it have to do with...what happened?” He didn’t have to say anything more on that. For a split second, Rayla looked as though she might have been angry, but her expression flattened. 

“No. Well I mean, that certainly didn’t make it  _ better _ . But it’s not that. I have other problems going on, you know.” She said defensively, and Callum almost wanted to die right then and there. Of  _ course  _ it wasn’t that- whatever Rayla was going through was something much,  _ much  _ bigger than that. And he had been neglecting that entirely this entire time.  _ Some friend you are. _

“You’re right, that was...really stupid, I’m sorry.” He said genuinely. Rayla’s expression softened again at this. “But...I kind of  _ don’t  _ know what else is going on. If you really don’t want to tell me, then you don’t have to. Just know I’m here for you.” She hesitated again, but then unfurled her legs and sat up, turning towards him. 

“It’s...my parents. They’ve been fighting.”

“Fighting? Over what?”

“I’m not sure, entirely. A lot of things, I think. I think some of them are about me.” She looked utterly defeated at this point, as though it had taken everything out of her to say those words aloud. Without thinking about it, Callum reached over and placed his hand on her arm. She froze a bit, but let it stay. 

“Rayla, it’s going to be okay.”

“How do you know?” She shot back, with not much venom in her voice. She seemed much more tired instead. She pulled her arm back quickly and held it close to her. “I don’t really want to talk about it anymore. Not...not in here anyway.” She frowned, looking vaguely grossed out. Callum nodded, not happy but understanding. A silence fell between them again. Callum wondered briefly how long they had been in here- it felt like hours at that point. 

“Also, I thought I told you I’d hunt you down if you ever mentioned that again.” His head immediately shot back towards her, stunned. He couldn’t read what expression she had on exactly- it wasn’t angry, but it sure as hell wasn't happy either. “You wanna die that badly?”

“ _ I- I, uh- _ **_“_ **

Rayla let out a little laugh at this, to his complete shock. “Sorry, bad joke...I’m not mad or anything. I’m just.” 

She paused then for a moment, looking down again. Callum took in a sharp breath fearing the worst before Rayla swiftly and suddenly knocked her head back entirely, colliding with the wall behind her with a  _ thud!  _ that Callum flinched at, much to his shock (and embarrassment).

“This is just  _ so- so dumb _ ! I came here to fucking  _ party _ , not be sad and awkward with you in some smelly closet! I told you to forget about that night, but here  _ I  _ am talkin’ about it now, isn’t that just daft?” She asked, her hand flailing about. He nodded dumbly. She then sat up fully again, turned towards him with her pinky out. 

“I really don’t do shit like this often, but I feel like this is a contract you can appreciate.” She started with a slight smile before it dropped. “So this is an actual promise- we drop that subject for  _ good _ . Clearly we haven’t been doin’ a great job of that before, but this time, it’s out of sight, out of mind. Sound good?” 

He stared down at her pinky held out. Rayla really was truly nonchalant about this entire thing, and it was settling in just how shocking that was to him. Could it be that that was somehow just something kind of normal to her? Maybe people in Scotland kiss one another when they have intense vulnerable moments together? That was the only reason he could think as to why this just didn’t seem to be that big a deal  _ at all _ to her- that night, he thought she might have really hunted him down if he even so much as breathed a word to anyone about it, but now, it was a  _ joke _ . He really didn’t know how to react at all.

_ You could tell her,  _ something in the back of his mind whispered. Tell her what he had come to realize over the past week, the changes he’d gone through to reach where he was now. He could reject her offer and tell her that he just couldn’t forget, and that he didn’t  _ want  _ to. It could potentially put a lot of things to rest- the sheer confusion of what happened that night, why it happened, and what came of it from his end. 

But that didn’t seem to be what she wanted. And what he came to realize fully this past week was that he was willing to do  _ anything  _ to keep what they had. Whatever it took to make her happy, and to be as good a friend to her as he could be. He had already fucked up  _ again _ not realizing what had been going on with her and her parents- why would he ever want to fuck it up further? Make things even more complicated, even worse for her?

He held out his pinky, and brought it towards hers, curving it around slowly and snugly, and he hated how even with all the logical resolve of his argument, he was  _ still  _ hesitating. He looked at her, and her expression was unreadable once again. But it was steady on him, unwavering. What was she thinking? Without thinking about it again, he opened his mouth to ask.

“ _ TIME’S UP LADIES!! _ ” 

The closet door swung open, light flooding in and all but blinding Callum as the group outside swarmed inside. They were going  _ insane,  _ Callum and Rayla’s thoroughly and profoundly confused faces apparently not mattering one bit. They exited the closet, the guys patting Callum’s back and shoulders as his eyes stayed fixed on Rayla, who cut through the crowd to disappear into the hallway. Callum shrugged off the accolades and immediately went after her, but a tall figure suddenly stood in his way. 

“What’d you think.” Kasef inquired.

“ _ What did I _ \- okay, I’m kind of busy right now, so.” Callum tried to walk around, but Kasef side-stepped him easily. “Going for round two?”

“ _ Round two!?  _ No, you  _ weirdo _ , I’m trying to get to my friend!” At this, Kasef stepped to the side, completely unfazed by Callum’s anger. A third party then stepped in- Soren cutting between them, with Kasef not looking too pleased to see him. 

“Dudes, we’ve got kind of an emergency. Beer’s gone.” 

“Didn’t they  _ just  _ bring some?” Callum asked distractedly, eyes still trying to find where Rayla had gone off to. He attempted to step away again, but Soren was the one to block this time. 

“There’s way more people now, dude, they’re chugging this shit.” He then looked to the side, sheepishly. “And I might have been a part of that, so I can’t really drive...and I know you don’t really like to drink…”

“I also can’t  _ buy _ drinks.” He huffed, his nerves on fire now. 

“I can.” Kasef suddenly cut in, and Callum finally looked towards him, as did Soren in surprise. “Fake ID.” 

“Oh!” Came a voice from behind. The girl of Claudia’s important mission suddenly popped in, slinging an arm around Callum and Kasef. “You doing a beer run? I’ve got one too!” She flashed hers proudly. 

“Okay wait.” Soren closed his eyes, hands to his temples, a thought formulating. “That’s  _ double  _ the ID. It’s foolproof. Callum, take them with you.”

“I’m not  _ going _ Soren, I’m trying to go find-“ Before he could finish his sentence, Rayla reappeared- her face perfectly placid. Almost as much as it was the day after everything at his house, he noted. 

“I just went to the restroom, you baby, relax. I’m coming with you. I’m not staying here a second longer without a beer.” Callum’s complete skepticism went unnoticed by Soren, who clapped his back in triumph. “It’s all settled then, dudes! Got your money right here.”

“I’m coming too!” Claudia appeared, raising her hand cheerily next to her companion. Soren seemed a little less thrilled with this development. “Keep an eye on her.” He whispered gravely to Callum. Though Callum was actually pretty confident that Claudia was right next to Rayla in the “most likely and capable to kill a man if needed” ranking of their friend group, he assured Soren nonetheless.

Money in hand, he looked back in resignation at this designated beer run squad, but his gaze soon flicked back to Rayla next to him. She caught his eye and gave him a small smile, with not much behind it, and his skepticism grew stronger.

—

They had almost pulled into the parking lot of the liquor store right by the house before Claudia pointed out that the cashier had likely seen her and Callum countless times- rather than try and hide in Callum’s car where the cashier could probably still turn through the windows, they could go to the liquor store they rarely visited a few blocks away instead. 

A sound plan that Callum hated that he couldn’t argue against because it made the car ride  _ that  _ much longer. Rayla sat in the passenger’s seat as usual, uncharacteristically subdued and quiet. Kasef sat right behind him, positioned just so where Callum could see a single unblinking eye in the rear-view mirror every time he switched lanes. Claudia sat in the middle, chattering away with the apparent girl of her dreams- Nyx, her name was apparently, or at least according to the fake ID she shoved in Callum’s face. All in all, not the most comfortable car trip he’s ever taken.

They pulled into the new parking lot, where Kasef and Nyx exited to hopefully dupe the unsuspecting cashier. Callum sunk in his seat, not entirely pleased with the situation, before he felt a message alert in his pocket. 

**Claudia (9:27 p.m.):** what do you think?????? she’s cute, right?? isn’t her accent soo cute???

**Callum (9:27 p.m.):** She seems nice...that’s her real name right?

**Claudia (9:28 p.m.):** omg yes! so cool right! she’s super cool!

**Claudia (9:29 p.m.):** but i actually have something to ask you. did you tell her?

Callum snuck a glance over at Rayla. She was preoccupied with her own phone, face still dull and neutral. 

**Callum (9:31 p.m.):** Uh, not exactly. Kind of did the opposite of that. She told me we should just forget it for good.

**Claudia (9:32 p.m.):** oh wow, really? i’m surprised honestly...i feel like ppl are usually lying when they say things like that. but i guess rayla’s always been kinda different, huh?

He couldn’t help another glance to his side again. She was right, she was. Rayla meant what she said, and said what she meant. Watching the phone light brighten her eyes, for the first time, he felt a pang of something-  _ what _ ? Regret, maybe? He tried to push it away, but for one brief moment, he wished that he could have perhaps savored what had happened between them before, if it was never meant to happen again. 

He then remembered what  _ else  _ she said in the closet, and immediately shoved those thoughts in head, hating himself even more for how selfish they felt.  _ There are much more important things you need to be focusing on right now.  _

He felt a gentle shoulder on his back, and turned slightly to see Claudia whisper quietly, “I’m sorry.” Hearing those words struck him with an even more bittersweet feeling, but it was the only comfort he needed to put those thoughts away for good to pay attention to what truly mattered- helping his best friend. He gave Claudia a small, grateful smile before Kasef and Nyx returned, each carrying 12-packs to the car. 

“ _ Way  _ too easy, it wasn’t even fun.” Nyx pouted as she settled back in her seat. “Isn’t that...kind of the point?” Callum questioned. “The negotiation’s half the fun of it! You can’t even get to that part without the ID.” She explained, further confusing Callum. 

“The ID for me is strictly utilitarian.” Kasef explained, unprompted. “I see no reason why I must pass through these loopholes to get what I desire, but if that’s the case, so be it.” 

“I mean, it is kind of the law…” Callum reasoned, knowing fully well it was a bad idea.

“Arbitrary laws don’t apply to me.” Kasef took a swift swig of beer. “That’s what I’m fucking  _ talking _ about.” Nyx raised her hand up for a high-five Kasef returned, not once looking away from Callum.

“Before we return to the party, I wanted to ask you. Did you appreciate the favor I did for you.” Callum sputtered, his hand jerking away from the shaft of his stick shift as he whipped back around to look at Kasef. “I beg your pardon?”

“I let you and your girlfriend spend time away from the rest of us. I felt like you might have appreciated that, but you haven’t thanked me yet.” Callum’s face lit on fire at that, so completely  _ flabbergasted _ he didn’t even know what to say. 

“Oh, so you guys are dating? Thought as much. Go ahead and thank the man.” Nyx slapped her apparent new friend’s shoulder, but Claudia sat up, indignant.

“That wasn’t cool at all, you know! You totally knew they were uncomfortable being there, I know it.” Kasef shrugged. “I personally don't see the point in prolonging the inevitable. If people are too cowardly or passive to take initiative on their own, they should be grateful when others take it upon themselves to do it for them.”

“Damn, okay.” Nyx contributed. Callum thought his brain might melt straight out of his ears- literally  _ what  _ was he even supposed to say to all of that? A mix of anger of embarrassment rushed through him as he opened and shut his mouth, looking for any response-  _ have I really been this obvious- _

“So no one taught you any fuckin’ manners growing up, and we’re supposed to be grateful for that.” Callum looked beside him in shock as Rayla turned her body around, her chin on the car seat, face  _ still  _ expressionless.

“Call it what you want. It doesn’t change the fact that I still helped you.” Claudia’s eyes raced between the two of them worriedly. Nyx on the other hand seemed to be positively  _ loving  _ what was going on. 

“And who’s gonna be helpin’ you when I knock you upside of your fuckin’ head? You’re gonna tag in ol’ Aussie here?” Callum met Claudia’s eyes, sending a desperate signal to do  _ anything _ . 

“Oh, I don’t fight anymore.” Nyx said plainly, hands up in defense. “It’s all yours, Scotland. I can’t lie though, I’ll stick around to watch. You strike me as a down n’ dirty kinda fighter but I feel like this guy could just snap a neck and not feel a thing.”

“ _ No one’s _ snapping necks tonight!” Claudia cut in, even more indignantly now. Nyx let out a small huff of disappointment she ignored. “ _ Not _ at my brother’s graduation party! Kasef, just apologize to Callum and Rayla. I know you hate Soren but there’s no reason to be a dick to them ‘cause of it.” 

Kasef shrugged, again. “If I was somehow wrong in my judgement, I apologize. I don’t wish to fight you, out of respect for my former teammate, who I do, in fact, hate, and do not respect at all.” He offered an odd, small bow towards Rayla and she seemed...unimpressed but at least the bloodlust emanating from her was gone now. 

Rayla paused for a moment, and Callum felt fearful again- her calm was eerie at this point.

“Besides,” She started, “If you really couldn’t resist stickin’ your nose in someone’s business, you could’ve helped these two out here.” She pointed over at Claudia and Nyx, who looked mildly surprised. Kasef glanced towards them. “I was, in fact, bribed to make that happen,”- Claudia’s eyes shot wide open- “but we had to leave then for this errand. I’m under the impression that you are already dating as well?”

“I-I, uh-“

“Yeah fuck it, why not.”

Their heads simultaneously whipped towards Nyx, who shrugged. “I don’t like beatin’ around the bush.”

“ _ That’s so cool.” _ Claudia whispered wide-eyed and reverently, grabbing Nyx’s hand. 

“Okay, with that all figured out, maybe we can all  _ leave, finally. _ ” Callum proclaimed, hand back on the gear as he quickly pulled out the parking lot before anyone could start again. Kasef finally stopped staring at Callum through the rear-view mirror, instead gazing out of the window while Claudia and Nyx resumed chatting, even more happily now.

He glanced over at Rayla again. Her face didn’t looked expressionless anymore, but he didn’t know  _ what  _ kind of emotion was on it.  _ Probably just annoyed.  _ He wasn’t too happy about this apparent sociopath of a former teammate deciding to embarrass people out of some weird God complex either. 

But he knew there was more to it than that, too. And he had to find a way to, at the very least, let Rayla know that no matter what dumb incident took place, or whatever promises they made to forget things he didn’t know he could that easily, that he was there for her, no matter what. He gripped the wheel tighter knowing it simply might be a little harder now, and swallowed back the lump of bitterness he held towards himself.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long time no see! I’m sorry for such a delay with this chapter. I had started writing it during finals and weirdly enough, once finals were over, I hit a weird block with this fic....I really wanted to wrap it all up with three chapters but i was just very mehhh with how a lot of it was turning out so I scrapped an already over-long chunk of it, put it aside for a bit, wrote some other stuff, realized how long it had been since I touched this....
> 
> but none of that matters really djjddj I’m sorry to come back with something of a filler chapter almost but the next one will be the last, and it will definitely (ideally) not take as long as this one did! thank you all for your kind comments, I will try to respond to all of them soon 🤠
> 
> also if anyone ever wants to chat! i’m chadstrid over on twitter~


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